Native scholars offer clearly written coverage of the relationship between political parties and democracy in the nations of Europe. Political Parties and Democracy: Volume II: Europe is the second volume in this five-volume set. It offers clearly written, up-to-date coverage of the political parties of this diverse region from the unique perspective of distinguished indigenous scholars who have lived the truths they tell and, thus, write with unique breadth, depth, and scope. Presented in two parts, this volume first discusses the political parties in Western Europe, devoting a chapter each to France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Norway. It then explores the realities on the ground in Eastern Europe with chapters on Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Throughout, contributors explore the relationship between political parties and democracy (or democratization) in their respective nations, providing necessary historical, socioeconomic, and institutional context, and clarifying the balance of power among parties—and between them and competing agencies of power—today.

British Party Politics and Ideology after New Labour brings together academics and politicians to debate the intellectual roots of the ideas that currently drive the main UK political parties. With major players responding to the arguments raised in each chapter, the book will be a must-read for anyone interested in or teaching British politics.

Politicians are polarized. Public opinion is volatile. Government is gridlocked. Or so journalists and pundits constantly report. But where are we, really, in modern American politics, and how did we get there? Those are the questions that Byron E. Shafer aims to answer in The American Political Pattern. Looking at the state of American politics at diverse points over the past eighty years, the book draws a picture, broad in scope yet precise in detail, of our political system in the modern era. It is a picture of stretches of political stability, but also, even more, of political change, one that goes a long way toward explaining how shifting factors alter the content of public policy and the character of American politicking. Shafer divides the modern world into four distinct periods: the High New Deal (1932-1938), the Late New Deal (1939-1968), the Era of Divided Government (1969-1992), and the Era of Partisan Volatility (1993-2016). Each period is characterized by a different arrangement of the same key factors: party balance, ideological polarization, issue conflict, and the policy-making process that goes with them. The American Political Pattern shows how these factors are in turn shaped by permanent aspects of the US Constitution, most especially the separation of powers and federalism, while their alignment is simultaneously influenced by the external demands for governmental action that arise in each period, including those derived from economic currents, major wars, and social movements. Analyzing these periods, Shafer sets the terms for understanding the structure and dynamics of politics in our own turbulent time. Placing the current political world in its historical and evolutionary framework, while illuminating major influences on American politics over time, his book explains where this modern world came from, why it endures, and how it might change yet again.

A valuable look inside the party politics of the post-Soviet states. Anatoly Kulik and Susanna Pshizova have compiled an engaging and comprehensive cross-national study that explores the stormy political developments in the post-Soviet countries. They have gathered together essays on the formation of the various new democratic institutions of Russia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova. The contributors are all distinguished scholars indigenous to their areas of focus; consequently, they are able to provide a true insider's perspective of the political climates of their respective lands. Kulik and Pshizova have organised the studies into seven generously detailed, nation-specific chapters that permit readers to see the individual party systems in both their sub-regional contexts as well as in their national ones. The newly independent states that appeared after the collapse of the Soviet Union faced the necessity of creating their own democratic political systems in the first months of independence. background, each country implemented its own methods of government rule: they each pursued different paths with different outcomes. It is logical to view and study the states as a group, but also necessary to see them as individual governments with individual policies and political cultures. This book is part of the Political Parties in Context series.

'New' Labour was defined in part by wide-ranging reforms to the party's internal democracy. These included changes to how candidates and leaders are selected, changes to policy making processes, and a programme of 'quotas' that transformed women's representation in the party. In the first book to analyse all these reforms in depth Meg Russell asks what motivated them, to what extent they were driven by leaders or members, and what they can teach us both about party organisational change and the nature of power relations in the Labour Party today.

The Four Faces of the Republican Party clearly describes how Republican Presidential nominating contests unfold. Its focus on party factions allows readers to understand the process and to predict who the eventual nominee will be. In particular, the authors explore why a conservative party always nominates candidates favored by the party's establishment and why evangelical conservatives always emerge as one of the two final contenders for the nomination. This book is essential reading for anyone - professor, student, journalist, consultant, or candidate - who wishes to understand, report on, or influence a Republican Presidential nomination contest.

How did the territorial Conservative Party adapt to devolution? This detailed analysis of the Scottish and Welsh Conservative Parties explains how they moved from campaigning against devolution to sitting in the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Tracing the processes of party change in both parties this study explains why the Welsh Conservatives unexpectedly embraced devolution while the Scottish Conservatives took much longer to accept that Westminster was no longer the priority. This book will be of interest to students of British, Scottish and Welsh politics and anyone who is interested in the Conservative Party. It also speaks to wider debates about the nature of devolution, party change and multi-level governance. -- .

The first serious study analysing Labour's impact on Whitehall. It offers a theoretical engaged, but empirically rich account drawing from an extensive set of primary interview material to examine a 'New Labour' effect on the Civil Service, including its reforms to improve policy delivery and whether it has politicised Whitehall. It concludes by arguing that New Labour's approach to Whitehall have been part of a broader strategy to reconstitute the power of the Westminster Model.

This book presents the results of a new comparative research project on the trajectories, motivations, perceptions and attitudes of young members (aged 18-25) of 15 different European political parties in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Norway and Hungary. The project combined a mass survey of 2919 young party members with 517 in-depth interviews.

This text examines the debates and developments about House of Lords reform since 1911, and notes that disagreements have occurred within, as well as between, the main political parties and governments throughout this time. It draws attention to how various proposals for reform have raised a wider range of constitutional and political problems.

A major study of the Communist party of Great Britain between the wars, when it adopted the military strategy of class against class, in its struggle to be the effective alternative to both the Labour Party and the TUC. This revisionary study, based on newly-discovered material in the Manchester archive of the Communist Party, shows that far from losing influence and being driven to the brink of collapse, the CPGB then consolidated its position, led national hunger marches and organized social and cultural events, while membership grew and the party developed as an effective and valued body in the pantheon of leftwing British politics.

Shadow of Liberation explores in intricate detail the twists, turns, contestations and compromises of the African National Congress’ (ANC) economic and social policy-making, particularly during the transition era of the 1990s and the early years of democracy.

Padayachee and Van Niekerk focus on the primary question of how and why the ANC, given its historical anti-inequality, redistributive stance, did such a dramatic about-face in the 1990s and moved towards an essentially market-dominated approach. Was it pushed or did it go willingly? What role, if any, did Western governments and international financial institutions play? And what of the role of the late apartheid state and South African business? Did leaders and comrades ‘sell out’ the ANC’s emancipatory policy vision?

Drawing on the best available primary archival evidence as well as extensive interviews with key protagonists across the political, non-government and business spectrum, the authors argue that the ANC’s emancipatory policy agenda was broadly to establish a social democratic welfare state to uphold rights of social citizenship. However, its economic policy framework to realise this mission was either non-existent or egregiously misguided. With the damning revelations of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on the massive corruption of the South African body politic, the timing of this book could not be more relevant. South Africans need to confront the economic and social policy choices that the liberation movement made and to see how these decisions may have facilitated the conditions for corruption– not only of a crude financial character but also of our emancipatory values as a liberation movement – to emerge and flourish.

Moreland and Steed bring an overall analysis of presidential politics in the South together with a state-by-state analysis and updated data on the 1996 presidential elections in each southern state. The 1996 elections are placed within the context of recent party and electoral developments in the South, particularly as those relate to fundamental changes in the party system and the ascendancy of the Republican Party.

The South is a region undergoing significant partisan change, and that change has substantial implications for national politics. This volume analyzes the South's role in the 1996 presidential nomination process, issues as southerners saw them in 1996, and the role of third parties in the South. The volume also analyzes the results of the 1996 presidential election in each of the eleven states of the Old Confederacy. The 1996 elections are placed within the context of recent party and electoral developments in the South, particularly as those relate to fundamental changes in the party system and the ascendancy of the Republican Party.

This volume is unique in that there is no other analysis of the 1996 elections that has a southern regional focus. This is the fourth of a series of volumes on presidential elections in the South edited by Moreland and Steed, and together these studies constitute a valuable resource for those interested in Southern politics, presidential elections, and American political parties in general.

What happened to the usage of common sense in the decision making process? In "The Invisible Man" writer James Leonard Nobles offers some new perspectives on and insightful resolutions for the challenges confronting modern society in the 21st century. And he refuses to submit to the political correctness being forced upon us by the "Powerbrokers of Hypocrisy." Through persuasive arguments and satire, Mr. Nobles takes on the "Institutions" that have betrayed the American people. He says, ""The history that is written is not always the history that was, and the truth is often hidden beneath ideological propaganda."" With candor seldom shown today, Jim openly discusses the controversial issues tearing at the hearts and souls of most decent men and women. "The Invisible Man" examines the declining social values and the consequences of our choices. For we stand at the fork of fate. One path is the end and the other path is a new beginning. Choose wisely for there is no going back.

About the Author:
Author James Leonard Nobles is a new voice from a section of the population often forgotten by society. But he represents the majority of Americans who are fed up with their government, both political parties, irresponsible corporations, and the greed of a few. Born with congenital cataracts in 1960, he knows firsthand how difficult the struggles in life can be. After dropping out of college, Jim returned at the age of 40, where he became the first college graduate in his family. Graduating in August of 2005 with a B.S. in Communications and Information Technology ("New Media"), he has been working tirelessly on "The Invisible Man" for close to four years (first year writing; last three years editing and publishing).

The politics of Unionism is central to the success or failure of any political settlement in Northern Ireland. The aim of this book is to place the politics of Unionism in its proper historical context and understand its dynamics with relation to its internal structures, including identity, ideology, social structures and political parties; and its external environment, including the policy of the British and Irish governments; its relationship with Irish Nationalists and Irish Nationalism and the wider influences on the peace process such as those of the US, South Africa, and civil society.

The internet is changing the way we interact and communicate. But how is it impacting on more historically traditional institutions like the British Conservative Party? This book examines the role of specific internet technologies like ConservativeHome, Facebook, Twitter and WebCameron in the organizational culture of the Tory Party 2005-14.

The UK is going through a period of unprecedented constitutional change. There is much unfinished business, and further changes still to come. Where are these changes taking us? In this book, leading political scientists and lawyers forecast the impact of these changes on the UK's key institutions and the constitution as a whole.

The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats each allow their members to participate in the selection of the party leader. It also examines the consequences of all-member ballots in leadership elections. It looks at how parties remove leaders, showing that each of the major British parties sought to make it harder to evict incumbents.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the British Labour Party was broadly supportive of Irish home rule. However, from the end of the First World War, Labour anticipated a place in government, and as a modern, maturing party in British politics, it developed a more calculated set of responses towards Ireland. With contributions from a range of distinguished Irish and British scholars, this collection of essays provides the first full treatment of the historical relationship between the Labour Party and Ireland in the last century, from Keir Hardie to Tony Blair. By widening the lens on Labour's responses to the 'Irish question' over an entire century, it offers an original perspective on longer-term dispositions in Labour mentalities towards Ireland and on the relationship between 'these islands'. It will prove essential reading for those with an interest in modern Irish and British history, Anglo-Irish relations, and the current Northern Ireland peace process. -- .

The Nature of Party Government examines relationships between governments and supporting parties on a comparative European basis. The book does so at the level of principles: there is a major conflict between governments, which should govern and parties, which being representative, wish to shape the way governments operate. The book studies relationships empirically as well: it shows that they occur on three plans, appointments, policy-making and patronage and assesses the extent of two-way influences, from parties to governments and from governments to parties.

This book explains why the level of party presidentialization varies from one country to another. It considers the effects of constitutional structures as well as the party's original features, and argues that the degree of party presidentialization varies as a function of the party's genetics.

Between 1796 and 1800, Americans truly developed the forms of government that are recognized and continued today. This book examines the development of the two-party system, relationships between foreign and domestic affairs, and most importantly, the successes of the French Party in the light of the Quasi War, legal persecutions, and through Federalist popularity and bumbling. The leaders of the French Party were successful men committed to their vision of America's future. Even John Adams, a leading Federalist, successfully pursued his own course of action; his sacrifice stands as a remarkable example for political leaders today. Federalist leaders were, however, ultimately unable to harness previous success and to unite varied agendas to maintain their leadership in the new century. Although a majority decried party politics, in theory or in commentary, Americans failed and continue to fail at running a government in a bipartisan manner. Even Thomas Jefferson, a leading Republican, failed to escape the grasp of partisanship and the politics of opportunity. These developments would foreshadow current political practices and the use of foreign affairs to support domestic agendas. Bringing together personality, structure, and practical measures of nation building, this work proves that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

On September 30, 1965, six of Indonesia's highest ranking generals were killed in an effort by President Sukarno to crush an alleged coup. The events of that were part of a rapidly growing power struggle pro and anti-Communist factions. The elimination of the generals, however, did little to increase and preserve Sukarno's power, though, and he was stripped of the presidency in 1967. Hunt's work is a unique and original examination of the events that culminated on that night in September, 1965. It is the first detailed account of the Indonesian Coup that reveals the previously unknown workings of the PKI's ultra-secret Special Bureau, a clandestine organization within the Communist Party that may be the prototype of other similar entities that flourished around the world in the mid-50's and 60s. No such expose of secret communist organizations committed to covert killings of the top military or political leaders of the country has ever been published. She establishes beyond any doubt that the PKI, under Chairman Aidit's direction, using the capabilities of a secret organization within the PKI that only Aidit and a handful of trusted high-level members of the Communist Party even knew about, and, most importantly, acting with President Sukarno's full knowledge and approval, planned and then-dramatically-failed to execute a bold plan to kill the top leadership of the Army and proclaim a new socialist state under President Sukarno's leadership with PKI Chairman Aidit as his proclaimed successor. At the time of the coup, government analysts as well as non-government scholars were of two minds. Some, like the group at Cornell University, were convinced that the PKI (Indonesian CommunistParty) had not been involved, that the coup was the action mid-level army officers against the top leadership. That was the official line at the time. Others were convinced that the PKI alone had planned and executed the coup in its long-held desire to remove the pro-U.S. army leadership. No one at the time saw the hand of Indonesia's world-famous President Sukarno in the affair.